The Ledgers of Baldr: 4E151
Actions Mu'lakka (1: Research) Builders resume the attempt to fully understand the odd technology they discovered so long ago. (2: Culture) After the historic tournament, mourners add a monument to the obsidian shrine. The inscription reads "Here lies Leero Jen'kin, successful fisherman and braver warrior who so honorably represented our people in the tournament. He was stupid as hell, but we loved him. Rest in peace, Ignati peddler." (3: Expansion) Colonization parties are sent to the recently discovered and apparently uninhabited central continent in an attempt to settle and seek out new riches. (4: Military) In light of recent events, Rak'Min calls for the assembling of an army to defend the Confederacy. Stinheim Understanding the monumental threat that the Stinheim Clan faces, and faced Azaghal declares that property is no longer required to serve in the Stinheim Legions. Now, all are permitted to join. He also declares that anyone who serves for the remainder of the war with the legion will be granted a plot of land to call their own, to mine or farm, and the right to join the assemblies, giving them the right to vote. He then makes a speech on the Field of Ull, showing the trophies captured during the last battle, in the hopes to inspire more to join the legion. (Recruit 3 armies.) Realizing the value of morale, Azaghal also commissions a sigil for each legion, to be created by melting down the mithril armor from the dead rebels. (Military Tech x1, paying for a +5 bonus). Kaz'ur Standing before the assembled Ashik, the Sawmanji prepares to address his people. "I know that many of you are uneasy at the task that lies before us. I most of all. That we may lose our brethren in combat weighs more heavily on my heart than anything else. I wish that what the priests have said is true. I wish that the walls alone would protect us. But walls alone cannot defend our homeland, and cannot aid us in defending our allies. The Father charged us, as his creations to defend this land and to act in a manner that would bring glory to him. To that end, I call upon you, my brothers. To defend the wall. To defend our allies. To defend our culture and our way of life. Rise up, my brothers, and defend the Great Father!" (Actions 1-3, Recruit Armies). Later, while addressing the counsel, he puts forth the idea of a legion of scouts, composed of the best riders the Ashik possess, who make their livelihood patrolling and defending Kaz'ur outside of the walls. (1 Action, Defense) Ashelani The Queen is unsatisfied with the war efforts provided by the rebels. Clearly they dont understand how important what theyre fighting for is. At any rate, the Ashelani will stand up for their ideals even if they won't. The Queen lays a vast number of eggs to produce a pair of armies to help the rebels turn the tide. (Raise army x2) There is a great strain on the Ashelani food supply due to the war effort, and as such the queen begins contemplating a new kind of tunnel to increase transport of materials around the colony. Made by raising what was once a tiny, multi-headed worm to megalithic proportions, this network flows through its intestines, where the cillia of the worm allow for rapid transport from one place to another. (income) Finally, research continues on creating a new kind of membrane that the damned wine maggots can't chew through, so that the process of fermentation can be internalized. (technology) Ignati Although still recovering from his wounds, Chimeryx's resolve is stronger than ever. He decides to raise 2 more armies, and a fleet besides. The Tribes can draw from a deep well of dragonpower, and he feels that nothing instills national pride like a strong military. He decides it's also time to make up with an estranged friend. He orders his scribe to issue the following message to Hygh Baelric: Hygh, we have not always seen eye-to-eye. There was definitely that one time when I ordered your execution over that racist statue, but that was years ago and we can laugh about it now. The truth is, I need you, Hygh. We are at war against a strange and terrifying nation, and some good old-fashioned bigotry and racial-superiority-proclaiming is exactly what our people need to keep their heads up. So, I'm putting you in charge of our propaganda department. Posters, caricatures, bawdy plays, education initiatives; whatever you think will help us the most. This is an embarrassingly backwards and shortsighted thing for me to do, my old friend, and I wouldn't trust it to anyone else. Yours, Chimeryx. (Culture). Hall of the Five The Four are no longer working on scatterbrained projects, dropping them as soon as they are bored and working on nothing of use. The Destroyer takes charge of the Halls of the Five, barking out short, gravelly orders. Gojac’s whiskey is burned and he is ordered to create firebears en masse. Kellus works with him to direct him how to properly create them. (1&2: Army) The Destroyer enlists the help of the Constantians and Toquans, meaning forced labor. Hundreds burn alive trying to crank out firebears fast enough to satisfy Death. (-120 wealth). Garma spends the year building fortifications along the borders. The walls are made of dirt but are coated in pitch, to give new meaning to the word ‘firewall’ (3: walls) Rucahn is ordered to create and mobilize a horde of Shrine Titans, with one change: instead of Shrines they carry hammers. (4: army) Rhiam Reich The Reich responds to the Ashelani threat the only way it knows how. BUy raising as many armies as is physically possible. Every man, woman, child, and firebear is drafted. All effort goes to the war. King Koragg started his reign in style. Military Style. (1,2,3,4, ARMIES. -90 gold) If two armies are raised, they engage. If less are rasied, they keep their distance from ashelani forces and begin scorched earth actions. Results: The Mu’lakka Lands: 19, 8, 6, 15 Finally outfitted with the sleek new hulls, your twin-masted, double-prowed silver ships now glide over the surface of the rough ocean waves, not even touching the water. Your boats are immune to the current, now able to move with ease as high as twenty feet above the water. Steering wheels are moved down to the belowdecks to protect the helmsmen and make the surface of the ship more flat—increasing storage space and available running room in case of battle. (EPIC TECH ACHIEVED, +8 navy, epic tech cannot be traded). The obelisk to Leero makes no progress, as his state funeral has halted construction. The funeral of a relatively unknown Ignati net-seller happened on the same day. Attendance was sparse. Your sailors to the unknown shores of Manuk never return (-10 wealth), but an army of formidable spearmen is finally raised. Your homeland is safe (-10 income). Stinheim: 15, 1, 4, 18 Only one army is successfully raised, and it’s becoming more difficult to muster men because the revolutionary army under Borgrek is now pushing the offensive, and has encroached once more into Stinheim sovereign territory, burning the farms that your supply lines so desperately need (-10 income). The second army you raised, headed by General Vicengrin, has defected to the revolutionary cause. In other news, though, the initiative to enact army sigils is a success, and Azaghal Stinheim’s own regiment sports a fine crafted runic crest of mithral and wrought iron in the shape of a horned badger’s head, the animal symbolic of the Stinheim royal line (+2 military). Kaz’ur: 17, 11, 16, 7 Under the shadow of Babil, your once-tiny country has been hewn by the winds of history into a land of affluence—thanks in large part to the resourcefulness and ingenuity of your people. Your Sawmanji manages to unify the people under a collective vision of a defense force, not just for your homeland in the Emerald Valley, but for your entire way of life. Walls alone are not enough, your people finally realize—they are fighting for the Great Father himself. Two successful armies are mustered, but not all of the Sawmanji’s demands can be met due to the rapid demand for military equipment (-20 income). The vast wealth and prosperity of your nation, finally, is being put to work, and the new armies have assembled in contingent around each of the two walls, ready to defend your nation. Your outriders patrol the steppes at the edge of your mountains, but they are too few in number to supplement your defense effectively, and the initiative is being intensely scrutinized by the anti-militant Hazba faction, a priestly sect of your religion, whose members are known to ceremonially smooth every sharp surface on their bodies to illustrate their commitment to nonviolence. The Ashelani Dominion: 14, 3, 12, 13 The warriors of your nation are once again sent to the augmentation pods to be enhanced—in their natural state they are hunters of animals, not of men, and the military genetics your have researched has not yet fully integrated itself into your evolutionary stream (-10 income). The long, cavernous intestines of the giant worms now stretch through the earth under your nation, spitting out supplies and valuable meats, and your biggest subterranean hives are strung with the thick tubes, forming an awe-inspiring organic web in the cavernous underground blackness. The transport of the items, however, is much slower than your Queen would have liked (+2 income). The black-headed maggots formerly used in wine production are now being selectively bred to avoid eating meat, and specialized troops are added to your armies that can spurt foul-smelling bursts of blue fire up to forty feet (+2 military). The Ignati Tribes: 18, 3, 17, 7 As your armies advance towards the stormy northern skies, internal military buildup at home is at its peak. Your nation commissions both an army and a navy successfully under the new era of militarization and nationalism that your leader has ushered in (-20 income). Your gold reserves, now the largest in the entire world are made available to your new Minister of Pride, Hygh Baelric, who effectively approves all proposed propaganda initiatives that he feels convey the message of Chimeryx’s rule. New slogans like “Liosa For the Ignati” and “There Are No Gods But Dragonborn” have been plastered up all over the walls of your tree-cities, accompanied by bold prints of Chimeryx’s face. The project seems to not be working quite as well as Hygh would have hoped, and no real increase in national pride has been seen as of yet. The Halls of the Five: 16, 16, 15, 7 The lamentably sober Gojac convinces the Destroyer not to sacrifice the Cordishmen and Toquans. “They’re part of my collection,” he tells him pointedly, “I’m not going to have them get all scuffed up.” The Destroyer decides to just concede to Gojac’s demands—provided that other members of the Five besides just him go out to engage the enemy. Only Kellus, the wild-eyed Alterer, agrees to go with the specter across the snowy mountainsides to do battle, drawing on tremendous magical resources to augment his power (-20 income). Gojac, meanwhile, has completed the walls in record time. They move around your nation, walls made of long-discarded spinning swords of ancient design, able to fly to intercept and impede the progress of the Ignati (+4 defense). They also speak three languages, if Gojac’s boasts are to be believed. The horde of shrine titans never really amounts to anything, though, and your two gods will be going into battle without them. Rhiam Reich: 18, 19, 19, 17 Scraping the bottom of your nation’s once vast wealth, the newly-crowned Emperor Koragg rallied his people to defend the homeland of Rhiam (90 wealth added to lowest roll), which is currently being ravaged by the Ashelani horde, who are also blockading most of your trade. In what would later be referred to in history books as Koragg’s Mustering, a draft has been instituted. All males over the age of 13 have been conscripted into your nation’s armies, with the exception of skilled tradesmen, armorers, and whiskey distillers. The old dwarf king, once thought to be ineffective, has proven to be entirely capable of the wartime responsibilities of Emperor. Whether the Reich will win or lose in the long term is uncertain, but one thing is clear: this will be a war of unlimited scale and scope, a war unlike anything this world has ever seen (-36 income). Battles 2nd Battle of the Summer Seas Tyler: 5+2 = 7 James: 8+3, 10+3 = 24 Off the coast, though, the second Ashelani navy has finally arrived to supplement your offshore forces, which have resumed the assault on the Reich’s ships. The call goes out from deep below, and your newly arrived krakenoids burst to the surface, blocking the ships from escaping to the shoreline. Galleon after galleon is torn apart by snipping mandibles and spearing tentacles. Wood splinters and cracks as orcs and dwarfs are thrown to a watery death. Those that swim to the surface are the unlucky ones. They are quickly scooped up by the secondary mouths of the krakenoids and fed through the beasts’ digestive tracts. The navy has been completely destroyed, and the Ashelani are now are blockading the entirety of the Reich’s ports. Battle of the Rhiam Fields Tyler: 9+11, 7+11, 4+11, 8+11 = 72 James: 8+12, 6+12 = 32 Emperor Koragg rides down the slopes of the wildflower-specked hills atop an armored Reich steed, the yellow and red flags of his sworn bannermen trailing behind him. If one were to watch from the sky, the multitude of flags would almost obscure the armies themselves—colorful streamers billowing above battle-ready lances form a silken cloud over the forces of the Reich. Back on the ground, Koragg is in a murderous mood. The Ashelani have kept his forces on the run for six months, forcing the armies of the Reich to burn whatever foodstuffs they haven’t eaten. The capitol has fallen. Daerholdt, ancient fortress city and home of the dwarfen line of kings, has been overrun. The insects feast on cattle, women, and children. They leave no laws in their wake. They strike quickly and without mercy. In the far south, where Koragg’s law still holds, rumors tell of orcs from the north being herded into chattels and led in lines aboard the black Nautilisk ships to an unknown fate. Koragg thinks about all of these things as he rides. The carapices of the chittering horde glisten in the valley below. Their camouflage has served them well up north, but on the open southern plains, in the bright sunlight, the insect forces can be seen as plain as day. This far from their hive mind, they are unable to sense the auras of the Reich forces, unable to predict the ambush. The Reich hammer comes down on both sides of the Ashelani armies. The cavalry, one human and one dwarfish regiment, comes barreling in first. Dwarf cavalry, a custom unique to your nation’s fighting style, is highly effective on the open field. The Ashelani emit psychic screams, unheard by the people of the Reich. Gouts of blue fire and black mantis blood flies every which way. Koragg laughs as his lance drives through the body of one of the hive scum. An overwhelming Reich victory, both of the opposing armies vanquished. Koragg sits now in his tent, a captured Ashelani lashed down before him. He looks straight into its shiny black eyes. “I want you to tell your queen and all your filthy brethren that Koragg is coming. Koragg is coming to send them to hell.” Erimia Campaign Collin: 8+7, 7+7, 10+7 = 52 Tyler: 6+11 = 17 DPF: 7+12, 2+5, 3+5, 6+5, 3+5 = 53 The battle of Stinheim is a pitched battle that continues for months, with the revolutionaries gaining serious ground initially but being pushed back by the determined dwarfs led by Azaghal Stinheim. One by one, three of the revolutionary armies are brought to heel, their generals executed in public squares. Borgrek, though, remains with his Ashelani contingent of troops, having retreated to the north, along with the traitor army led by General Vicengrin. Your combined forces pour into the land annexed by the Dwarfen Peoples’ Federation, reclaiming it in the name of the rightful king. The first devastating loss that the revolution has faced since its beginning, the battle for your nation seems to be turning in your direction. Duke Adolph, having ingratiated himself with King Azaghal over the course of the campaign, has begun drawing up plans for the long-term assault on the Ashelani homeland using combined Reich and Stinheim armies. The revolutionaries have turned tail and run, and victory for the Righteous Coalition seems imminent, as your forces have suffered only minimal casualties. Battle of Vengeful Mountain Isaac: 9+15, 10+15 = 49 Michael: 1+9, 8+9, 4+9 = 40 Captain Vayel'shi of the First Wings is leading his company up the slopes of the Vengeful Mountain, separating the plains beyond the Great Forest from the ash wastes. In ancient times, the stories say, dragons, his ancestors, lived here, but they were driven from their caverns by fiercer warriors. Flapping his wings, he launches from a crag and soars directly upward, landing on the peak. Below him he can see. No. Impossible. A ferocious black dragon, its scales bristling, its mouth pouring thick smoke, perches on a rise, eyeing the . Its wings unfurl. One hundred, then two hundred feet. Vayel'shi readies his lance. "Steady, men! There are no gods but dragonborn!" But the call rings hollow in the hearts of his troops. The dragon descends, its claws extended. Scrabbling against the peak, some of the Ignati make it down in time the others are consumed in an ethereal black flame, a fire that burns deathly cold, sucking the life out of the eyes of hundreds of your bravest warriors. Cracks of thunder from your lances scarcely damage the beast. When it flies, Vayel'shi noitices, it seems to trail a black afterimage behind it, as though it were both there and not there. He descends with his troops to a safe spot on the ridge. Far above, the dragon barrels down on your flying troops. Peals of thunder ring out. Vayel'shit turns around. Illuminated against the western sun, something is rising over a mountain ridge. A black goo of some kind. No. There is a buzzing sound. Kellus, in the form of six million black bees, descends upon the helpless Ignati. Among the First Wings, there were no survivors. Kellus and Death arrive back at The Halls. Death looks the other three in the eye and takes the dragon effigy out of his pocket and scores it once with a knife. Death puts it back in his pocket and leaves the room. Kellus decides not to give his prepared speech and instead sits on a cushion, playing absent mindedly with an animated bee and miniature dragon. Category:The Ledgers of Baldr